{"id":8103,"date":"2013-03-05T16:30:36","date_gmt":"2013-03-05T21:30:36","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/themagicalbuffet.com\/blog1\/2013\/02\/24\/"},"modified":"2013-03-05T16:30:36","modified_gmt":"2013-03-05T21:30:36","slug":"a-lapidary-of-sacred-stones","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/themagicalbuffet.com\/blog1\/?p=8103","title":{"rendered":"A Lapidary of Sacred Stones"},"content":{"rendered":"

$\"\"$ <\/a>Now you kids know I\u2019m a gal that loves me some Christopher Penczak. I\u2019m a lady that adores me some Deborah Blake. Yet there is but one writer that elicits a fan girl squeal the way Ol\u2019 Blue Eyes would from the ladies back in the day, and that\u2019s Claude Lecouteux. Yes folks, he\u2019s back, and this time he brought jewelry. Lecouteux\u2026..with jewelry people! Claude Lecouteux\u2019s latest is \u201cA Lapidary of Sacred Stones: Their Magical and Medicinal Powers Based on the Earliest Sources.\u201d<\/p>\n

At this point in most of our lives we\u2019ve all thumbed through, or own, at least one book about the properties and\/or powers of certain minerals and gemstones. Many of you probably already have a favorite. However with each book it\u2019s about what they choose to include and how they choose to organize the information. Those who know and love Lecouteux know that this book is going to be special, and Lecouteux does not disappoint.<\/p>\n

From right in the \u201cIntroduction\u201d, \u201cHow the Dictionary is Organized\u201d:<\/p>\n

I have left the names of stones in classical or Medieval Latin as entries, when they exist, because they do not always correspond to the names of modern mineralogy and many stones remain unidentified, and I am going by the medieval nomenclatures. For stones without specific names, I have created entries of the type \u201cstone + virtue\u201d or \u201cstone + location.\u201d<\/em><\/p>\n

So to find my birth stone, Emerald, I look under \u201cEmerald\u201d and I\u2019m told to \u201cSee Smaragdus\u201d. Once there I find 5 pages of diverse information. For instance the stone was one of the 12 stones found on the high priest Aaron\u2019s breastplate in Exodus 28:15-30. Or, the emerald is used in hydromancy or divination. He mentions the emerald\u2019s appearance in \u201cThe Romance of Alexander\u201d and the \u201cLetter of Alexander to Aristotle\u201d.<\/p>\n

Hopefully this has given you a little idea as to what to expect inside Claude Lecouteux\u2019s \u201cA Lapidary of Sacred Stones\u201d. A lapidary is an old book on the lore of gems, someone who cuts, polishes or engraves precious stones, or a collector or dealer of gems. Lecouteux has certainly wrote this generation\u2019s lapidary with \u201cA Lapidary of Sacred Stones\u201d. Whether you\u2019re looking for Carniz, Magnet of Fish, or Sun Stone, this book is a keeper!<\/p>\n

Next we\u2019ll be examining \u201cCrystals, Jewels, Stones: Magic & Science\u201d by Isidore Kozminsky, that just happens to have \u201cCrystals and the New Age\u201d by Stuart Weinberg along for the ride.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"